The most recent world energy outlook predicts that energy demand in 2035 will be 36% higher than in 2008. The oil and gas industry is looking at ultra deep-sea exploration as a next frontier for meeting these increasing global energy needs. However, many challenges need to be overcome before drilling and production at greater depths becomes economical. One pressing challenge is the formation of natural gas hydrates in oil and gas pipelines.
Hydrates are crystalline structures consisting of a lattice of cages of water molecules that entrap hydrocarbon molecules at elevated pressures and low temperatures. Hydrates can plug oil lines, forcing operations to stop until they are removed, and in some extreme events, can pose safety issues by forming a projectile within the line if subjected to large differential pressures. Recently, hydrates were a key reason for the failure of the containment box approach to oil recovery after the 2010 Gulf spill as they clogged the opening of the box near the sea floor and prevented oil from being siphoned to boats on the surface.
Current methods for hydrate mitigation focus on using chemicals to shift the equilibrium hydrate formation curve to higher pressures and lower temperatures, using kinetic inhibitors to slow the growth of hydrates, and insulating or heating the pipeline walls. The costs associated with these methods and with lost oil and gas production due to hydrate plugging can run into billions of dollars (more than $200 M USD is spent annually on hydrate inhibiting chemicals alone). Furthermore, these currently employed methods are energy intensive and environmentally unfriendly, and alternative approaches to reduce hydrate adhesion are of great interest.
There is a need for articles and methods that prevent the formation and accumulation of hydrates in oil and gas pipelines.